Jamaica 5 shillings 1966

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Sir Alexander Bustamante


Jamaica became independent from the UK in 1962.

Sir Alexander Bustamante became the country's first prime minister.

He fell ill in 1964 but remained prime minister until 1967, when he retired.


During his illness, Donald Sangster became Acting Prime Minister.

He succeeded Sir Alexander Bustamante as Prime Minister in February 1967.

He died in office on April 11 1967.

In 1965 the sculptor and engraver Paul Vincze was assigned by the Royal Mint to design a five shillings coin for Jamaica. The coin was intended to commemorate the Commonwealth Games of 1966, which were to be held in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica.

The Royal Mint suggested to the Jamaicans that the coin should be a crown, and that the Jamaican coat of arms should appear on the obverse, while the reverse should depict the emblem of the Commonwealth Games. The denomination of "crown" or "one crown" would also appear on the reverse. The Jamaicans replied that, under their law, the pound was divided into shillings and pence, and the term "crown" was not recognised. They therefore asked that "crown" be replaced by "five shillings".

The Jamaicans also asked that their Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante should be portrayed on the obverse, without any text or inscription, instead of the coat of arms. The Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC) replied that it was highly unusual for a prime minister to appear on a coin, rather than the head of state. (Queen Elizabeth II was, and still is, the head of state of Jamaica). RMAC also stressed that the coin was meant to be a souvenir of an international event and wondered how many people outside of Jamaica would know who Sir Alexander was. Nevertheless, the Jamaicans insisted that this was what they wanted.

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The documents shows five portraits of Sir Alexander by Paul Vincze.

These photographs are held at the National Archives, London,


The documents do not explain the differences seen in these designs.

Most of them look very similar to my eyes, but I will illustrate them here.

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This is a photograph of Paul Vincze's finished plasters for the coin.

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Eventually the Jamaicans changed their mind.

They decided to have the coat of arms on the obverse after all.


Paul Vincze carried out the work on the new obverse.

Here you see an image of the issued coin.

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Paul Vincze's portrait of Sir Alexander Bustamante was not wasted.

Jamaica went decimal in 1969 and introduced its own national dollar.


Mr Vincze's portrait of Sir Alexander appeared on the Jamaica one dollar coin from 1969 to 1979.

The coin was a collector piece, and Sir Alexander was depicted as part of a series of National Heroes.

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For more information on Paul Vincze, and to see images of his designs for countries around the world, click on the link below:

Paul Vincze, Coin Designer

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I think the initial idea for the reverse was preferable to the finished reverse.

It looks too "medallic" for my tastes.